NEW DELHI:
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released its manifesto for the three-phased Bihar elections promising to distribute the coronavirus vaccine free of cost once approved by the ICMR, and also assured 19 lakh jobs for youths of the state.
Union finance minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman, releasing the party's manifesto, said that as soon as Covid-19 vaccine will be available for production at a mass scale, every person in Bihar will get free vaccination.
"This is the first promise mentioned in our poll manifesto," she said.
BJP also promised to create as many as 19 lakh jobs for Bihar, a state that has historically struggled with unemployment.
Sitharaman said that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Bihar has seen a sharp rise under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule, and added that it has grown from 3 per cent to 11.3 per cent in the state in the last 15 years of NDA government.
"It was made possible because our government gave priority to good governance for people. Only 34 per cent eligible got pucca house in Lalu Yadav's 15 years tenure. But in the last 15 years, 96 per cent of eligible people got the pucca house," she said.
Appealing to all voters in the state to vote for NDA and make it win, Sitharaman said, "Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister of Bihar for the next 5 years. Under his rule, Bihar will become a progressive and developed state of India."
The election document was unveiled by Sitharaman and senior leaders Bhupender Yadav, Nityanand Rai, Ashwini Choubey, and Pramod Kumar. Union minister and Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad and other BJP leaders were also present at the event.
The manifesto comes a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi hits the campaign trail. The BJP's manifesto speaks about the Prime Minister's vision of making 'Atmanirbhar Bihar'.
Major political parties of Bihar are busy wooing voters and releasing manifesto for the Assembly polls which is going to be conducted in Bihar in three phases and counting will take place on November 10.
The BJP is contesting the Bihar election in alliance with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United). The JD(U) is contesting on 122 seats and BJP on 121 in the 243-member state Assembly.
The 'Mahagathbandhan' - an alliance of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Left parties has already released its manifesto.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) led by Chirag Paswan released its manifesto on Wednesday for Bihar assembly poll in Patna.
(With inputs from agencies)